


Flower Crowns for the Pirate King

by cherrybyes



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst and Feels, Canon Compliant, Cute, Flowers, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29578521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrybyes/pseuds/cherrybyes
Summary: “Zoro’s hair looks like grass,” he laughs, “The flower has a home now doesn’t it?”
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Roronoa Zoro
Comments: 9
Kudos: 101





	Flower Crowns for the Pirate King

**Author's Note:**

> i've never made a flower crown in my life and i thank google dot com and my literature teacher for the very miniscule knowledge i have on flowers also this was supposed to be cute and fluffy but it turns out i can't write anything without making it a little sad also i suck at summaries sorry

They’re on land for a couple days this time. It’s a small, unnamed island that the Strawhats are on or at least that’s what Nami says, Zoro doesn’t know (or care really.) It’s a spring island he guesses, from all the greenery that faces him. In the middle of the island, there’s a huge dark and looming forest and only with Sanji persuading Luffy that he’ll give him all the meat he could spare that night that their captain agreed to not enter it.

They’ve set up camp on the shore, Usopp and Chopper struggling to prepare tents for everyone. Zoro didn’t offer to help, thinking he would only prove a hindrance to them. Instead he goes looking for Luffy. The youngest boy was nowhere to be seen and from prior circumstances, they all knew how terrible that worked out for them. From the looks of it the island was inhabited but that could only be said for the shore and side they were on, not including the other side and the giant forest within. He only hoped Luffy didn’t go looking for any civilization and got messed up with any of the wrong people. With swords in hand, Zoro goes after him, following some footprints in the soft, green grass under his feet. The sea breeze hit his face and the only sound besides waves crashing on the rocks at the bay was Nami and Usopp yelling behind him. It seems like no one noticed his or Luffy’s disappearance. 

He finds his captain in a field of flowers some few metres away from their camp. It’s far away enough that the flowers were barely seen from where they set up next to the ship. He’s still a few feet away from him but Zoro does not call out to Luffy. He watches him instead, his feet slowing as he notices that Luffy is making something. He can’t discern what it is, eyes squinting to see that he’s holding a lot of flowers in his hands. He speeds up his pace, to get closer to Luffy but the sight of him being quiet and so focussed on his task was something almost never seen before.

Truthfully, Zoro assumes that he’s the only one who really knows Luffy to be quiet. The weeks and some days they spent together alone, just the two of them before Nami, was probably the only time he’s seen him be quiet. Afterwards, with gaining so many crewmates - especially Usopp and Chopper - he’s always had people to talk to. Even Robin, with how quiet she is, listens and talks to him; answering all of his silly questions and enlightening him on literally anything he wants to know. But before, when it was just them, Luffy would have his quiet moments. It usually used to happen when Zoro was asleep - not all the time however, because he would be in the middle of a good nap and then his captain would jump on his lap to wake him up - but Luffy would be monologuing about something and Zoro, barely listening and dozing off would jump wide awake when suddenly he heard no talking. It wouldn’t be the first time Luffy would fall overboard and Zoro had to dive in after him, so at times like those his mind did the automatic jump to the worst conclusion. But sometimes Luffy would close his eyes, other times he would stare out at the ocean and just stay silent.

It had been eerie to Zoro, watching Luffy have no concentration on anything he could see and no sound besides the waves. At first he thought that these silent spells had been Luffy simply taking a nap but he soon realised that he was awake and thinking or something. He was just completely zoned out. Zoro liked to watch him when he was like this. It was beautiful to him, Luffy’s black hair swaying in the wind if he didn’t have the hat on his head, his mouth shut and eyes staring off into the distance. It was scary, and beautiful. He never asked him about what he was thinking and he really always forgot about these occurrences, the only thing triggering the memory was Sanji or Nami shouting behind their captain with a, “Can’t you be quiet for once!” Every time he heard them say it Zoro would think that no, they don’t want to see Luffy quiet and how terrifying it could be. (Because it was for him)

Underneath his feet a flower crunches as Zoro makes his way towards Luffy. He takes his time wading through them, various flowers and species in the field. “Oh Zoro! You found me,” Luffy laughs, his silly shi-shi-shi sound filling the air next the sound of the wind and waves. 

“What are you doing Captain?” Zoro asks when he reaches him. Luffy sits in a clear patch of grass in the middle of the field, only green under him and whatever flowers he has lying on their sides next to him. Luffy pushes himself upwards, spreading his legs and moving any flowers between them as he makes a space for Zoro. The older of the two is unbuckling his swords from at his waist and sets them on the side that Luffy doesn’t have flowers as he sits between his legs, his head resting on his chest by his shoulders. Luffy’s arms go around Zoro and suddenly there’s flowers with long stems on his lap now. 

“I’m making crowns! With flowers!” his captain tells him. Luffy stretches out next to him and after some fidgeting from the other boy, he pulls his knees up to rest at Zoro’s waist. It’s somewhat of an awkward position but they make it work. Luffy’s chin rests atop his shoulder as he picks up his almost finished crown and continues to tie the stems together. It’s white flowers with yellow centres that he’s weaving together. Zoro vaguely recalls that they’re called daisies. He watches Luffy as his fingers tie and twist the long green stems together, adding to the crown. Zoro looks up at his captain and watches him concentrate, his eyes focussed on the task with his tongue sticking out of his mouth just a little, caught between his teeth. 

“Ah! Shucks!” Luffy exclaims suddenly and Zoro’s eyes dart back to where his fingers are working a stem into the crown. “The flower popped off,” he explains and Zoro watches as he unravels the stem from the crown, taking care as he tries not to pull any other flowers off. The said flower that removed itself from the stem falls down and settles on the ground. Luffy picks it up when one of his hands is free and he twists it between his fingers. Zoro watches as his eyes turn to him, meeting his own grey ones. Luffy snickers, a smile forming on his face as his hands raise above Zoro’s head and he feels the weight of his hand on his head. Luffy smiles proudly at his handiwork when he pulls his hand back. He can’t see what he’s done but he has an idea. “Zoro’s hair looks like grass,” he laughs, “The flower has a home now doesn’t it?” 

Zoro doesn’t laugh or reply to him even. He watches Luffy, his stupid proud smile on his face, happy at what he did and turning back to his task of the flower crown. Zoro lifts himself off of Luffy and reaches for one of his swords. He unsheathes it, not bothering to identify which of the three was it. He looks at his reflection in the long and narrow weapon and watches the white and yellow flower contrast in his green hair. Luffy is behind him again, his reflection stretching to fit the two of them in the sword’s dimensions. “You see,” he tells him, “Your hair is like grass.” 

Zoro laughs. “I see,” he says to him. He never thought of it like that, his bright green hair wasn’t really like grass but he humoured his captain. Sanji was right in the one stupid nickname he had for Zoro - marimo, _mosshead_ \- although he would never agree or answer to it. He sheaths the sword again, identifying it as Kitetsu now and puts it back where it was, next to the other two. When Zoro goes to lie back on Luffy, suddenly missing his warmth and how comforting it is having the younger boy near him, he realises he isn’t behind him anymore. Instead, when Zoro is unoccupied with his sword, Luffy takes the chance to plop himself directly into his lap. 

His hat is off his head, held by the string around his neck and there’s a completed crown in his hand. “This one is for Zoro!” he says, and his hands go above Zoro’s head again. It’s the same one of daisies that he was making prior. He rests it on his head and Zoro watches as the other flower that was in his hair falls out. He looks up at Luffy and notices that he too is wearing a crown. This one is made of yellow flowers, daffodils he thinks they’re called. He didn’t know where that one came from because he wasn’t wearing it before. 

“I made for everyone,” Luffy tells him, “but I made yours last because I wanted it to be perfect.” Had he really been there for so long before Zoro found him? He didn’t think it had been that long really, only some hours since they’ve landed and Luffy disappeared quite recently.

“Really?” Zoro asks, stupidly because he had nothing else to say. _A ‘thank you’ would’ve been nice._

Zoro lies back on the grass, pulling Luffy down with him. The younger boy lies on top of him, his chin just by his own but his hands under his face. Zoro reaches and puts his hands around Luffy’s body, bringing them even closer. It’s a little late in the evening, the sky reaching the brightest it gets before its darkness envelops them all. It won’t be dark for an hour or more yet so he takes the chance. It’s quiet and he can feel Luffy’s eyes on him, watching him before the raven moves his hands to go behind Zoro’s neck and rests his head on his chest.

“Where’d you learn to make these?” he asks Luffy, breaking their silence. He thinks back to Luffy’s frightening quiet self he remembers all those months ago. He doesn’t want to see that again and whatever demons Luffy tries to face by himself that he hides from the crew and even Zoro, his first mate. 

“Makino taught me,” he said, “She was like my best friend when I was little. She taught me how to do a bunch of girly things because I was always around her.” Zoro looks at him and Luffy was pouting at the statement. 

Zoro hums, “You’re good at them,” he tells him. “You made for all of us so quickly, that’s cool I guess.”

“You don’t think it’s lame? Ace told me it is." Was Luffy being insecure? He didn't know.

“It’s cute,” he says to him shortly, “I’m sure the others will love it.”

“Really?” Luffy lights up and sits himself up, looking down at Zoro. Their eyes meet and hold and the older boy lifts his hand to caress Luffy’s face. The younger presses his face into Zoro’s hand, his soft cheek in his rough and calloused hand. “Let’s go see them Zoro!”

_No, not yet. Stay longer._

“Okay,” he tells him but Luffy is already getting off of him and stands by his feet, waiting. Zoro picks up his swords and he’s buckling them on but Luffy’s impatience has him almost bouncing. “Where’s the stuff for the rest of them?” he asks him and watches as Luffy scrambles to find the rest of the crowns he’s made. The rest he hands to Zoro, all in various colours and mixed with different flowers. 

“Zoro, Zoro,” Luffy says to him, making an impatient gesture with his hand, “Bend down.” There’s loose flowers of varying colours in his hands now. He obeys his captain, bending his head as he holds onto the crowns in his hands carefully. He feels Luffy remove the crown that rested above his ears by his temples and ruffles his hair. His hair is longer now, he hasn’t had the time to cut it and the usual buzzcut he has is overgrown. Then there’s the pressure of Luffy placing and securing flowers in his hair. One, two, three, six, seven and then there’s the ring around Zoro’s temple again. 

“You’re like a garden,” Luffy snickers, “or a lawn with your head full of flowers.”

“I wonder who put them there,” Zoro remarks, his tone filled with an unnoticed sarcasm. He doesn’t get his sword to look at them but Luffy stands so proudly with a grin on his cute face, so happy at putting flowers in his hair like a goddamn forest fairy or something.

“Don’t worry Zoro,” Luffy says, “You look very nice.” He doesn’t object. 

He hands Luffy some of the crowns back, making one of each of their hands free. With blood rushing in his ears, Zoro takes one of Luffy’s hands and they make their way back to camp. His captain doesn’t shy away at the gesture, intertwining their fingers and swinging their hands as they walk. He tells him which of the crowns of whose own and truthfully, Zoro is barely listening to the reasoning. He listens to him ramble and basks in the sunlight that’s upon them and it’s almost like bliss to Zoro.

They stop suddenly and the impact makes Luffy’s crown fall off his head. Zoro bends to get it back, pulling his fingers out of Luffy’s own, the yellow flowers twisted together nestled in the grass. 

“Oh! Thank you Zoro,” Luffy says at the gesture as he picks it up. He raises himself up and awkwardly with both hands, he rests it on his head again.

“A crown for the King of the Pirates,” Zoro says to him. Luffy giggles and the sound is enough to make his heart burst. 

“This is only temporary,” he says, “I’ll get a better one soon.” 

“Just say you don’t want the crown from me.” Zoro says mockingly with fake hurt. There’s a smile on his face as he watches Luffy laugh. 

“Hey!” he exclaims, “I made it, it doesn’t even count as from you.” He adds, “Besides when I’m really the Pirate King, we’ll all get better ones, because I say so.”

“As you say Captain,” Zoro says and he bows his head, his arm going under his chest as he does so. Luffy laughs again, his shi-shi-shi one that fills the air. 

They’re almost at the camp and they can see Usopp waving madly at them, Chopper jumping in the air beside him. Zoro takes his hand and they walk to them, together.

**Author's Note:**

> hi again i hope u enjoyed pls leave kudos and comments they help me get through the day and school


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